This western Indian Ocean species ranges from Delagoa Bay (Mozambique) in the north to Lamberts Bay (South Africa) in the south (G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2006). It has been collected at depths of up to120 m.

This species is generally associated with rocky and coral covered reefs, but has also been recorded from shallow tidal pools and estuaries where it lives among macroalgae (Allen 1980, G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2006).